Mark Cocker Art: Created in Dots

When I was a child, I dreamt of becoming an artist. I loved the sense of escape art gave me – I could stay tucked away for hours in my room creating my next drawing (which usually was of my favourite movie or book at the time!).

However, whenever anyone asked what I wanted to be when I was older and I replied with, ‘an artist’, I would get some confused looks – I vividly remember being told it wasn’t a ‘real career’ and it was bound to fail.

Despite hearing this, I let my passion (and need to prove them wrong!) win and took Art as one of my GCSEs. I was so excited to continue to dive into the world of art, but I soon realised that this course was dimming my enthusiasm.

I tried to push the negativity I heard to the back of my mind, but I soon began to question myself – was I still enjoying art? Is this what I want to be creating? Does my artwork reflect who I am? Why am I starting to follow ‘rules’ in art?

I soon realised that I enjoyed the art I was creating when I was younger more because it was authentic – it came from my heart, passion and interests – not by what the syllabus dictated.

The reason I fell in love with art as a child wasn’t because someone told me to pick up some paints and draw something, it was because it was my way to express my life at that time. Art should represent how you view your world – every brush stroke, splash of colour and fine line holds a story.

Earlier this year, I met Mark Cocker, a local Artist who is based at Black Barn Farm Marketplace. After speaking to Mark about his inspirational journey in the art industry, one thing became clear: his love for art has thrived because he stills views it as a hobby, not a career. In a world where we are expected to take on every ‘side hustle’ and be busy 24/7, Mark’s incredible journey highlights the power of art to provide an escape, process your feelings and enjoy the art of creating.

When did you launch Mark Cocker Art?

In 2019 I was in a difficult place mentally due to work and needed something to occupy my brain in the evenings.

I sketched out an elephant just to keep my mind occupied and out of a dark place. I started on one of the ears and randomly started putting down dots to achieve the desired texture. That seemed to be going well so continued with the dots and decided to try and complete the entire picture in dots.

Along the way I started posting the progress on social media and got many positive comments.

When it was finished my wife dragged me off to a gallery (dragged because I didn’t believe anyone would be interested in a picture created in dots!). They told me it was amazing and that I should definitely do more at which point Mark Cocker Art began.

A month later we went into the first covid lockdown so I spent 10 or so months dotting.

Where do you look for inspiration for your work?

I always work from reference photographs; I am obsessed with details and try to incorporate as much detail in my work as is physically possible.

The pen I use has a nib of 0.03mm (a third of a millimetre) and that’s the only pen I use.

I look for reference photos with as much detail as possible. I also look for textures in photographs that I think would be difficult to recreate. For me it’s the challenge that I enjoy as much as the final outcome.

I created one picture of a zebra on its back having a dust bath - it took me around 300 hours and the main reason I created it was to see if I could draw dust in dots!

Describe how you create one of your pieces (from initial idea to final piece!).

I subscribe to websites where I can view photographs uploaded by photographers and from there obtain copyright permissions to avoid any conflicts in the future.

I will search for specific subject matters although quite often I will just search for ‘animals’ and sit there scrolling through thousands and thousands of pictures and something usually grabs my attention.

It might be a particular setting or pose that attracts me or as I said before it could simply be something like dust or a texture that gets me. I may add or remove aspects to the final setting and, when I am happy, I sketch out the outline and areas of light and dark tones in pencil.

From there I decide where to start (this will normally be on the backgrounds). The reason being that in many cases the backgrounds may take longer than the detailed areas, so I aim to get these finished first. I worry that if I complete the exciting, detailed areas first I would then rush the backgrounds, not giving them the attention and time they need.

My picture of the moon (completed at the end of 2025) took around 170 hours to complete and almost 130 hours of that was on the background.

I have the reference photo on my computer, iPad or phone and zoom in on the area I am working on.

I never think of it as drawing in dots, I simply recreate areas of detail, textures and tone. I will often see a texture, sit there looking at it for a while having no idea how I will create that in dots, get bored of waiting and then start putting dots down and see what happens - most of the time it works out!

Over many hours of focusing on tiny areas, the overall picture begins to take shape.

In my mind I can see how it is hopefully going to look when finished. As it starts to appear, I often have to go back over areas to darken them in order to achieve the finished result I want.

Once I have completed all the ink work, I then add colour if there is any required. This is simply coloured pencil over the top of the ink which is relatively quick to achieve as all the texture and tone is created with the dots beneath.

What impact do you aim to have on those that view your art?

The reason that I use such a small pen to create the dots is so that I can achieve as much detail as possible. I also love the fact that people have to get really close to see that it’s created in dots.

I enjoy seeing the look of confusion on their faces when they are told that it’s all tiny dots, followed by the look of amazement when they get close enough to see for themselves. The best compliment that anyone could give me is that they thought my pieces were photographs.

I like to think that people appreciate the work that goes into each piece and that it generates a talking point for people when looking at my work.

Do you have a favourite piece you have created?

It’s the process and challenge of creating each piece that I enjoy so once they are finished I tend to lose interest and move onto the next piece quite quickly!

However, there are a couple of pieces that I consider my favourites. Currently it’s the moon as it’s a piece that I loved working on and loved the reactions of people when they see it.

I suspect that ‘Guardian…’ will become my new favourite - it’s an image of a lioness in the background shrouded in darkness and out of focus with a lion cub walking in front of her very sharp and in focus.

There is another piece that has always been one of my favourites. I created a series of small vegetable pictures, the last being some potatoes. Before starting, I had reservations because I could not imagine how I was going to make a picture of potatoes look good! When I finished, I found that I had surprised myself because the potatoes looked amazing and I very rarely say that about any of my work. I have always thought that if I could make potatoes look good, then I may be able to draw anything!

What do you enjoy most about creating commissions?

The nature of commissions is that they are personally important to someone and I still struggle with them because I hate the thought of disappointing people.

I am getting better with managing my anxieties whilst creating commissions. The times when I am most anxious is when I am working from a poor-quality reference photo. Whilst I can create detail and textures to effectively fill in the gaps of missing details in poor quality photos, it’s not quite the same and I get anxious about the end result.

However, those anxieties are all worth it when I see the reaction of my customers to the result (unless they start crying because the commission is of a pet no longer with us – even though that’s a compliment because I have achieved a likeness that has invoked a reaction in them!).

For many, creating art can be an escape and their time to switch off from the worries of everyday life. What power does art hold for you?

For me, my art is my therapy and I will normally manage to spend time everyday dotting.

I will often have a piece that I regard as my ‘therapy piece’ and this is normally a picture with a dark background which most people would find mind numbingly boring.

However, for me it’s a way to completely zone out, to switch off. Knowing that I can sit there for the next 3, 4, 5 hours or so not needing to think about anything, simply putting thousands of 0.03mm sized dots in a small area creating an almost solid dark background is my therapy. If I go a couple of days without dotting, I can get quite grumpy.

How important is it to you to treat your art as a hobby? Do you think this helps to avoid creative blocks?

Officially my art and dots are my hobby.

We have a 24/7 job caring for two adults with learning disabilities that I do with my wife. Stephen has lived with us for 24 years and Sarah has lived with us for almost 6 years; both are simply part of the family.

Fortunately, they are both independent enough that we do not need to be with them all the time and so this frees me up to spend time on Mark Cocker Art.

They both love coming to the shows when we are at events and late last year they started creating pieces from resin (with some help from my wife). They now have a permanent stall in the Black Barn Farm Marketplace which they manage as their own business (with some support from myself and my wife). This is giving them a level of independence and a focus/drive which they haven’t had before.

If I am honest, I work harder at Mark Cocker Art than I have ever worked at a job before. Leading up to a show I will often be framing for 12 to 14 hours a day up until midnight and beyond. However, because it’s something I love, it never feels like work.

I do what I can to avoid stress and anxiety. For example, if I am completing a commission for someone or someone asks if they can buy an original piece that I am still working on, I never take any payment until it’s finished. The reason being that if someone pays me in advance, I am then working for them, and in my mind, it increases that level of pressure and raises my anxiety.

In terms of creative blocks, fortunately it’s something I don’t tend to suffer from because my work is quite technical. I see it a recreation of the details already there, so the most common struggle I have is with boredom of creating a certain texture.

What I then tend to do is to have a bit of a wander around the picture and start other areas with different textures, simply as a way of maintaining my enthusiasm for a piece.

What is your proudest moment since launching Mark Cocker Art?

As ‘Mark Cocker Art’ continues to grow it has been a very gradual and consistent progression.

I am quite a calm person (at least on the surface) and try to take most things in my stride and keep my feet firmly on the ground.

At times I still don’t understand why people get so excited and amazed by the fact that these pictures are created in dots. As my wife always tells me, my brain is wired differently, it’s not like I see everything in dots!

However, I do seem to be able to just put a few dots down and it starts to look like something. I always worry that it may come across as arrogant when I say that they are just dots, but to me that’s all they are.

I find it quite difficult to comprehend most of the time where we are now with quite a following on social media, regular visitors to my website, a number of people that collect my work and now with a permanent studio at Black Barn Farm.

I even have people come into the studio deciding what pictures they want in their home and then decorating the rooms to match the pictures rather than the other way around. All of these things make me both surprised at how out of control this hobby has become and immensely proud with what we achieve.

What do you believe is the most damaging stereotype in the art industry (and how can we change this)?

There are an awful lot of egos in the art world that seem to need a lot of massaging, and I think that creates a stereotype which alienates your average Joe in the street from many art galleries.

I am a professional artist by virtue of the fact that I create pictures and people buy them. However, because of those stereotypes, from some aspects of the art industry I am quite uncomfortable at the thought of being labelled a ‘professional artist’.

If I am honest, I see the art world as being something that I am not really part of. I have never had, nor do I ever see myself having an exhibition where people ‘swan around’ with a glass or champaign having discussions as to the meaning and purpose of a picture that I may have spent 300 hours creating. It took me 300 hours because there is a dark background created in tiny dots that my OCD would not allow me to simply colour in, so I spent a stupid amount of time making it from dots! There is no deep meaning and no message hidden within - to me it’s an interesting photo that I used as a reference and I created it how I did because it’s the only way I really know how.

What does a day in the studio look like for you?

I will often drop my step-children off at school in Taverham on the way to the Barn and get there quite early.

We have a robot cleaner called ‘Clean Latifa’ that goes round at night, so we have to clear the floor of any pictures when we close up at the end of the day, so first job is putting them back out on display. Switch on the kettle (this sometimes happens first) make a cup of tea, tell Alexa to play some music (usually 90’s rock) and then sit down to start dotting.

It’s a lovely peaceful atmosphere first thing before people start to visit and I am at my happiest in the morning. I speak to people when they come in, show them what and how I create the pictures. I enjoy having a laugh and a joke with them.

I particularly enjoy seeing the reactions of children as they seem to be mesmerised by the process.

If Stephen and Sarah are on their stall that day then I will spend some time supporting them if they need it (which quite often they don’t, apart from using our milk and our coffee machine!).

By the time 3pm comes around and its back to being quiet, I often find it difficult to leave as I am starting to enjoy the peace and quiet again. After a day’s dotting and talking with people I go home, complete any jobs that I need to do at home and then dot or frame probably until midnight and do it all again the following day.

What do you love most about the community of independent businesses at Black Barn Farm?

Black Barn Farm really does feel like a big family, everyone is looking out for everyone else and will always help each other out.

What I also love is that everyone seems to have their own little quirks, their own ‘isms’, their own personalities and yet it all comes together and works.

It creates an atmosphere which is both inviting and friendly which is felt by the business owners there and hopefully the visitors to the barn.

Due to the nature of the BBF Marketplace, there are always new people and stall holders being added to the mix so for the visitors and customers there is always something new to see.

What do you hope to achieve this year?

I am quite a down-to-earth person who doesn’t get overly excited or carried away very easily.

When we started the year by opening the studio the aim was to cover the rent each month, however it has been far more successful than we imagined it would be so that has not been a concern.

There are a couple of pieces that I want to create, one of which being a view of the earth from the surface of the moon, however due to several commissions, I am struggling at times to find a ‘healthy’ balance between my own work and commissioned pieces.

This year I want to create a new range of Christmas cards which, as crazy as it sounds, I need to start sooner rather than later.

I am just happy to keep on top of things, keep my stress and anxiety levels low, to keep producing art that people enjoy looking at and hopefully sell a few pictures – whilst having a bit of fun and a laugh with my BBF family.

To keep up to date with the incredible work of Mark, you can head to his Instagram (@mark_cocker_art)!